The real Korean skin care routine told by a Korean
Many international customers who have visited us for several years have asked us many questions about the Korean makeup methods and skin care routine. So we’re going to write the answers to those questions here. Find out Koreans’ magical skin care secret with us.
What! Koreans do their skin care in several steps!
That’s true. Koreans consider healthy skin very important. Skin management that is composed of several steps is considered so natural, because it’s already a habit for them. It’s a habitual secret that is passed on from our mother’s mother, and that mother’s mother.
Cleansing is the beginning of skin care
Removing makeup is more important that putting it on. This is a cosmetics CF copy that was popular in Korea in the ‘90s. Koreans really empathize with this sentence. When they were young and growing, their mothers kept telling them again and again, ‘You shouldn’t wash your face like a cat’. This means that they should wash their faces carefully. And as you know, Koreans love to wash themselves. You’ll already be aware of ‘Jjimjilbang’, a Korean bathhouse culture. It’s said that even in midwinter, ancient Koreans washed their faces and bodies at a frozen stream. Koreans think that they should wash their faces cleanly and have a clear face color in order to bring good luck and prevent diseases. So Koreans wash their faces very meticulously. This is the beginning of skin care.
You mean Korean wash their faces in several steps?
Yes. Korean women wash their faces in at least 2~3 steps. They especially care more about washing face in evening before going to bed. The skin can rest and regenerate while you sleep only if you sleep in a state of clean skin. I’ll give you an example. Mina, a university student in her 20s, who likes BTS music, goes to a university in Seoul. Her skin is dry, and she has a skin color of number 21 cool tone, which is bright and pale. She doesn’t tend to wear heavy color makeup. She only does her skin makeup with a cushion that has BB cream in it, and does her point makeup with a lip tint and mascara. She had many classes today, and she also had a barista part-time job. She arrived at dormitory at 10 pm, in an exhausted state. It would be good if she goes to bed after washing roughly, but that’s not what she does.
First remove the color point makeup!
She first removes the lip tint and mascara with a makeup remover. You all know that there are various types of makeup remover, right? Water type, oil type, cream type, etc. Mina uses a type that contains both the water and the oil type. This is the water and oil 2-layer type remover. It has both merits a gentle texture of water type and a powerful cleansing of oil type. It should be shaken well to mix before using. Since her skin is dry, she uses the oil type on days when she wears a heavy makeup. She wets a cotton pad with a makeup remover, carefully puts it on top of her point makeup part, and wipes it off.
Now it’s time to remove the skin makeup.
Mina only uses BB cream for her simple skin makeup, so she’ll skip this step today. But on days like when she is hanging out with her friends to watch the BTS concert! Her makeup shouldn’t be removed no matter how much she sweats and jumps, so she meticulously does her skin makeup by using a concealer, foundation, contouring products, etc. She must also remove her skin makeup on days like that. Mina knows from experience that if she doesn’t, she’ll have a rash and pinples on her face next day. On days like that, she applies enough cream type makeup remover on her whole face, and massages her face for about 5 minutes. And then she wipes off the cream with a tissue. Now she prepares to wash her face for real.
Now it’s time to wash her face with water.
Mina, standing in front of the washstand mirror, wets her face with warm water(about 86~95℉). She opens her pores with warm water. She takes out a coin-sized amount cleansing foam on her palm, and makes plentiful bubbles. She evenly spreads bubbles on her face, and massages for a few minutes. She washes off with lukewarm water. She finishes by washing her face with cold water, soothing the skin, and closing her pores. She softly removes the water with a towel, as if she’s wrapping her face.
It’s not done yet. Skin toner is also a part of washing your face.
You probably have an experience of feeling tight skin after washing your face. That’s same for Mina, who has dry skin. Most Korean women(even women with oily skin) feel dryness after washing their faces. So they unconditionally use skin toner. Korean women usually don’t use a skin toner that has an alcohol component in it. They regard that it’s too irritant for the skin, and that it breaks down the skin’s protective membrane. Most cleansers have an alkali component, so they wash cleanly but disrupt the skin’s Ph balance. At moments like this, skin toner is used to soothe the skin and make skin more flexible. Skin toner is used necessarily in Korea. People abbreviate it as ‘skin’ and call it that way.
‘SKIN’ is a skincare product and cleanser that is necessary for your skin!
Make sure you remember this too. ‘Skin’ is a skincare product and cleanser that is necessary for your skin. 🙂 Wet cotton pads with enough skin toner. Apply that toner on your face by following your skin texture and wiping off with that cotton pad. This method arranges the skin texture and makes the skin flexible, preparing the skin so that it can easily absorb other skin care products. If you apply skin toner like this, as if you’re wiping, the residue such as dead skin cells and sebum that were remaining even after you washed your face will be wiped off, and your skin will become smooth. On days when your skin is too dry, if you wet a cotton pad with a lot of skin toner and leave it on top of your dry skin for 5~15 minutes, it becomes a good moisture-supplying pack. Using skin toner is the last step of washing face, and the beginning of the skin care stage.
Welcome to the real Korean skin care method told by a Korean.
Is it composed of too many steps? Is it complicated? But surprisingly, Korean women habitually and meticulously proceed all these steps of washing face, just like how they eat meals and brush their teeth. Grandmothers have told mothers, and mothers have told daughters that they should do this. Korean women think that women with beautiful skin are the women who’re truly beautiful. Why don’t you try to become a woman with beautiful skin by using this secret?
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